Afterlife
by steph2009
Summary: Kaname and Yuuki are reunited in the afterlife.


**Afterlife**

 **Summary:** Kaname and Yuuki are reunited in the afterlife.

 **Disclaimer:** Vampire Knight belongs to Matsuri Hino.

Kaname blinked away the harsh glare of sunlight and sat up slowly. His brow furrowed in confusion when he felt no pain. He looked down at his palms, expecting to see them aged and wrinkled, but only found smooth skin like the ones he had, had all those years ago after being awoken. Slowly, he turned his palms so that the back of his hands faced him. He clenched his hands into fists, pleased not to feel the joints ache at the move. As pleased as he was not to feel any of the aches and pains, he recalled being old; he could recall all of the years he had lived. Most of all, he recalled his final moments.

 _Ai by his bedside, her beautiful brown eyes—so much like his, but so warm like…her mother's—filled with tears as her lower lip wobbled._

 _"I can save you," she plead, "I can make you like me…like you did for mom." She winced as he coughed yet again; his body jerked and heaved with the violence of his cough. Blood came up on his chin. Her lower lip seemed to vibrate at the sound, but her eyes burned with the fragile hope that he would say yes._

 _"No," he croaked, shaking his head slightly. He looked over at her; his eyes pleading. "Haven't I…" His breathing was slightly labored as he spoke; each word was drawn out longer and the space between them unnecessary prolonged, "made your mother wait long enough?" Ai's eyes became even sadder. He smiled sadly and placed a hand over hers. "I want to see her…for myself. I don't…want…to be without her anymore." Ai's lower lip had stopped wobbling; instead, she started doing something even more heartbreaking. She began to cry._

 _"I understand, Daddy!" She cried out as she collapsed against his chest, crying. He heaved a small sigh—the only kind he was capable of with the way his chest had been aching—and placed his hand on the back of her head._

 _"I love you, Ai," he promised. Ai muttered the same against his chest. He looked to the other occupant in the room. His son…or rather Zero's son, but his all the same. "And I love you." The man smiled sadly. His lavender eyes impossibly sad as he returned those words._

He couldn't recall when he exactly he had passed and maybe that had been for the best. Kaname let his hands fall to his legs. He had awoken much the same way he had all those years ago: flat on his back underneath a beech tree. Only now, his children didn't surround him; he was alone. He looked around. A sunny field, trees as far as the eyes could see, and sprawling fields of flowers greeted his eyes. He took in the beauty of the place with wonder. He could hear the sounds of water splashing against the edge of the bank and the splashes of fish leaping. A smile tugged at his lips as a small, pale pink butterfly brushed his cheek with its wings. He lifted a hand, his index finger lifted, the butterfly landed happily on it.

Instantly that feeling was back. The longing, the nostalgia, for the woman that was his daughter's mother. The mansion was filled with painting of her; he knew her face, but he could not recall it himself. The first few days, he would stare at that picture for hours. Though he had no memory of her to call his own, his heart—his very soul—ached for her. The butterfly flicked its fragile wings and left him. He watched it leave him as he slowly lowered his hand. He swallowed as, for some reason, the feeling of loss swelled. As he had rested, his memories of her had apparently resurfaced. It seemed death had dissolved the spell she had placed on him. It made sense, of course. He was neither human nor vampire here; only a soul.

The memories of his life, of his years, nearly overwhelmed him; but there was this calm acceptance of everything he saw. He could easily line these memories up with the aches he felt in his soul. Nothing, he mused, absolutely nothing had hurt him as badly as losing Yuki. He had felt it, he realized, the moment she had passed. And he could feel her now.

He shot to his feet. He could feel her! Kaname frantically searched the landscape, looking for her. Signs of life were all around him, but none interested him in his search. His body tensed as a warm breeze brushed against his back; before he could turn, arms wound around his waist. Delicate feminine hands folded together over his abdomen. His very soul screamed her name even as he closed his eyes and savored her touch.

"Kaname," she sighed against his back. Her eyes closed as she breathed in his scent. When she had first seen him, laying there underneath the beech tree, she had wanted to run to him; but she had been spell-bound by him. For so long, she had watched over him; to see him before her now had frozen her. The spell had ended when he had shot to his feet; his eyes frantically searching the landscape. He had looked everywhere _but_ behind him. It caused a quiet giggle to escape her chest. She could feel his touch on her hands. His long fingers curled around them and tucked underneath her palms.

"Yuuki," he breathed her name as if it were the most sacred prayer as his head dipped upward toward the sky. Gently, he slid his hands up hers and then he caressed her wrists. "Yuuki, how cruel…" He whispered. Her heart seized. Yuuki dropped her hands from around his abdomen. Before she had fully let him go, he had turned to her. Her breath left her as she was exposed once again—after so many years—to those powerful eyes. He cupped her face, her soft cheeks, in his hands; for a moment, they both savored the touch, but neither closed their eyes. "Making me go on without you…" He finished. Yuuki's eyes watered as she covered his hands with hers. She could see the pain, the strain of the years without her.

"I'm so sorry, Kaname…." She choked, mourning for those years. He smiled sadly at the tears he saw gathering in her eyes.

"Even with my memories erased, my soul…this soul still remembered what it felt like to know you. To love you. I could never be with anyone else the way I was with you. You owned me, completely, from the moment you were born." The tears Yuuki had been suppressing spilled over. His thumb swept at her cheeks as he tried in vain to wipe them away.

"I know, Kaname, I know," she swallowed tightly and wrapped her hands around his wrists gently. She lowered their hands down between them. He followed their path with rapt attention before his eyes bounced back to her face. When she looked up at him, there was such powerful promise in her eyes that it stole his breath. "Never again," she vowed. "From this moment on, nothing will ever separate us. I promise."

It was the kind of promise that was stamped across one's soul. She longed for, loved, and needed this man in front of her so strongly that any and every incarnation of her would long for and love him too. There would never be a time that she wouldn't seek him out. Until the end of time, no matter how many lives they passed through, they would be together.

"I know," he said, smiling softly. He had meant his earlier words. From the moment her soul had touched his, he was hers. And he would be until the end of time. No matter what body he filled.

Suddenly, the sun around them grew brighter. The rays became sharper. Yuuki looked away from him.

"Kaname," Yuuki turned to her love, "do you want to go now?" He didn't need to ask where. This was the afterlife. He knew where they would go next. On. Kaname looked down at his love; he leaned down and took her hand in his.

"Yes," he squeezed her hand gently as they both stepped forward and into the light. Before the light completely consumed them, Yuuki locked eyes with Kaname. She wanted the last sight she saw to be his face so that it may be imprinted even further on her soul; his thoughts were much the same.

One more step and the light completely enveloped them, whisking them away to their next life. Where, as they had promised, they would be reunited and fall in love all over again. Only this time, they would get their happy ending.


End file.
